The two-time defending Pac-12 champion Stanford football team opens fall practice Monday. Here are five key questions the Cardinal hope to answer during camp:

1. Who will replace Tyler Gaffney as the workhorse in the backfield?

Maybe the better question is: Will there even be a workhorse?

Cardinal fans have been hearing about Barry Sanders since he arrived on campus in 2012. He redshirted as a freshman, then despite flashes of brilliance in practice, touched the ball just 16 times last season, seven of them on punt returns. He has shown glimpses of what he can do in games, mainly on screen passes.

Can he be an every-down back at 5-foot-10, 192 pounds? Perhaps. It seems more likely that he'll share the ball, at least early in the season, with junior Kelsey Young (5-10, 195) and senior Rickey Seale (5-9, 202). Junior Remound Wright (5-9, 204) is another possibility, although he'll miss the first week of camp to complete his punishment for an undisclosed violation.

He liked the way his backs ran between the tackles in the spring game. Whether they'll be able to do that behind a promising but reconstituted offensive line, especially early in the season, is another story.

It could be that Shaw might have to temper his smash-mouth, ground-game mentality and open up things this year. He has an experienced quarterback in Kevin Hogan, an impressive corps of wide receivers led by Ty Montgomery, and some fast and elusive backs. Don't expect Air Shaw, but maybe there will be more downfield passes, screens and fly sweeps in the Stanford repertoire.

Senior Joe Hemschoot and junior Blake Martinez are the leading contenders, but redshirt sophomore Noor Davis, converted from the outside, is in the hunt.

5. Who will provide the vocal leadership that Reynolds, Skov and Trent Murphy supplied the past few years?

Skov and Murphy were part of the most decorated class in the history of Stanford football, a class that played in four straight BCS bowl games. The best leadership bets are Tarpley and strong safety Jordan Richards, but many of the standouts are more low-key players such as Hogan, Montgomery, offensive tackle Andrus Peat and defensive end Henry Anderson. Some or all of them will have to take roles as leaders.

When to watch: Two open practices are scheduled, both on Saturdays: at 11:10 a.m. this week and 12:05 p.m. Aug. 16.